“Save the Leo!” Jonah called out as he smashed through the large glass window, his body protecting Penelope’s small frame. Some of the lions chased him, but she prayed he would be fast enough.
Malik roared again, and she turned on her heel as he fought off four lions. He was stronger than all of them, including the two left in human form—his aunt and uncle. Eliana did the only thing she could and picked up a lamp, smashing it on the head of the nearest lion. She was stronger as a phoenix than she was as a human, but she still wasn’t a freaking shifter. She’d fight until she couldn’t anymore and pray that it would be enough.
Another lion swiped at her and she screamed when his claws ripped through her side. She’d moved just enough that it hadn’t gone deep, but it still hurt. She wasn’t a warrior. She was an artist and a mother, but damn if she’d let her mate die alone.
Others came into the room then, Malik’s guards, and she prayed they were on their side. When the new group began to fight the other lions, she almost let out a breath of relief. They weren’t alone anymore.
But it might be too late.
Malik’s Aunt Prudence moved forward, shifting as she did, her intent on Malik. Malik had his back to the other woman and his attention on the other lions fighting him. If he didn’t turn soon, it would be too late and Eliana would lose him.
Eliana did the only thing she could do.
She moved between Prudence and Malik, using her body as a shield. Maybe she wouldn’t die here, maybe it would only hurt and Malik would have time to live. Or maybe she’d turn to ash as her kind did. She knew she was risking it all, risking her life and her future with this one action, but she couldn’t not do it.
If she died here protecting the one she loved, she might not come back. She might not rise from the ashes.
When the lioness’s fangs slid into her throat, Eliana knew this would be the end. There was no way she could survive this, but Malik would live. That would have to be enough.
Malik roared over her, and she felt weightless, even as his arms came around her.
He was worth this pain, worth it all. Because he would raise their child and he would be Malik. She wasn’t anything less than him, but this was something she could do. She could take this risk because it was hers to take.
And perhaps she would come back.
Perhaps she would rise again.
Perhaps.
****
Malik couldn’t let her die but he didn’t think he had a choice. Her throat was ripped out and his mate was bleeding in his arms, her life quickly fading. She blinked up at him, once, twice, then didn’t blink again.
He had his hand around her throat, trying to keep her skin together, but he knew it was a lost cause. As soon as his aunt had clawed through that precious, smooth skin, Eliana had taken her last breath.
Before he could kiss her goodbye, before he could process what had just happened, Eliana’s body erupted in flames. The red and white flames didn’t burn, but warmed him before leaving him cold and holding the ash of the one he loved, the one he’d thought would be in his life from now until eternity.
The mating bond beat once before fading and he roared, his body shaking. In a fog, he stood up through the ash and shifted back to his lion form. He ripped out Prudence’s throat with one slash and clawed his way through anyone who dared approach him. His uncle shook against the wall, his face pale.
Malik would have liked to have shifted back to human form so he could scream at the bastard and tell him everything he’d done wrong, but instead, he let the cat take over. He slashed the old man’s throat and watched as his uncle fell to the ground, clutching his neck.
His eyes bulged and he let out his last gasping breath, alone and forsaken.
Still in lion form, Malik prowled through the line of dead bodies around him. His people had lived, stronger than those who had opposed his throne. The only ones who perished were the ones who had taken the wrong side.
And his mate.
His beauty.
His Eliana.
She had died for him, died for his throne, and yet he prayed she would come back. The others had said there was a chance she wouldn’t, but that meant there was a chance she would.
Before he could grieve, before he could hope, before he could find Jonah and Penelope, there was something he had to do.
He went to the balcony that looked out over the Pride and roared. His mane shook as he put everything he had into the roar. Around the Pride, every single person stopped what they were doing and roared back. Some fell to their knees while others bowed their heads. It was a roar of grief, a roar of power, a roar of the Leo.
When he was finished, he shifted back to human and clutched the stone railing in front of him.
“I am Leo,” he called out. “I am King. Those that threaten our Pride, that threaten my family, shall perish. Know this and follow. Know this and live within the Pride.”
His head still lowered, he closed his eyes, aware that others watched him. He had to leave soon before they saw him break, before he became his father and a hollow ache of the man he’d once been.